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Not that long ago, toys were developed from movies. Now, it's the other way around. This wouldn't be a bad thing if the filmmakers took the time and effort to do something interesting with the premise. Even considering how well-established is th...

Back in the years when Star Trek was still a cult phenomenon (instead of a mainstream cash cow for Paramount Pictures), fan fiction was about the only way Trekkies could experience the latest exploits of their favorite characters. One of the more ...

A modern crime thriller with noir inflections, Galveston operates in the seedy underbelly of the American South. Hitman Roy Cady (Ben Foster), struggling with a recognition with his own mortality, recognizes that he hasn’t lived a good life....

The Gambler is a solid remake - a film that retraces the path of the original while carving out its own identity. The 2014 iteration isn't as good as its 1974 predecessor but it offers its share of small pleasures, not the least of which is the c...

Game Night is canny enough to go full-throttle with the absurd and not bother trying to do much with its meager dramatic and/or sentimental elements. Character-building occurs through the comedy and doesn’t extend beyond what’s needed to k...

Alfred Hitchcock used the term "refrigerator movie" to describe certain films. According to the great director, refrigerator movies are well-paced thrillers that work effectively while being watched, but fall apart upon later examination (whil...

I wonder if Gamer might make a good game; it certainly doesn't make a good movie. However, add an element of interactivity into the hyperkinetic, repetitive action, plodding narrative, and stupefyingly obvious social commentary, and the potential ...

At first glance, James Ronald Whitney's Games People Play: New York appears to be what one might call an extreme reality game - a combination of "Fear Factor" and "Candid Camera" with stunts so over-the-top that even an R rating would be unattainab...

There seems to be little doubt that Ruben Fleischer, the director behind the well-received Zombieland and the less well-received 30 Minutes or Less, is a Brian De Palma fan. How else to explain the kinship that exists between Fleischer's latest, Ga...

Garden State is one of those movies that fails to stay with the viewer for an extended period of time. It's a forgettable film featuring a throw-away story with unmemorable characters and unremarkable performances. That's not to say it's bad, bec...